January in Italy: what's open, and how cold

January has two national holidays, the 1st and the 6th, and on 1991-2020 normals it averages 25.0°F (-3.9°C) at Passo Rolle in the Dolomites against 52.5°F (11.4°C³) at Trapani in western Sicily.

Two holidays in the first six days

January 1 and January 6, Epiphany, are both national civil holidays under law 260⁴ of 1949, so the first week of the year has two days on holiday hours. Offices, many shops and some services close or cut their hours on both.

After the 6th, the next national holiday is Easter Monday, which moves with Easter, and then April 25. The whole calendar is on public holidays in Italy.

Christmas ends on January 6

The Bolzano Christmas market, in Piazza Walther and along via Isarco, runs from November 27, 2026 to January 6, 2027. Its last day is Epiphany, which is also the day the national holiday season ends.

If you arrive on January 7, you arrive after the season: the rest of it is on December in Italy.

January, city by city

January is Milan's coldest month, averaging 37.8°F (3.2°C) at Linate with a mean low just below freezing, 31.3°F (-0.4°C), and a mean daily high of 45.1°F (7.3°C).

Across the country the January means rise from north to south, on the 1991-2020 normals:

• Milan Linate: 37.8°F (3.2°C)
• Venice Tessera: 38.7°F (3.7°C)
• Florence Peretola: 43.9°F (6.6°C)
• Rome Ciampino: 45.5°F (7.5°C)
• Naples Capodichino: 48.6°F (9.2°C)
• Trapani Birgi: 52.5°F (11.4°C)

These are airport or edge-of-town stations. The historic centers, where you will spend the day, run slightly warmer than the table.

Up in the Dolomites

Passo Rolle, at 2,004 meters in the Dolomites, averages 25.0°F (-3.9°C) in January, with a mean high of 29.7°F (-1.3°C), so an average January day there never gets above freezing. Only February is colder at that height.

Dobbiaco, a valley town at 1,222³ meters in Alto Adige, averages 25.2°F (-3.8°C) in January, and its mean low of 18.1³°F (-7.7°C) is below the pass's 19.8°F (-6.8°C). On these numbers the valley floor has colder nights than the pass above it. Snow and lift data are not in our verified set; the rest of the mountain climate is on weather in the Alps.

Who travels in January

In 2025, 442,000⁶ American travelers came to Italy to see family and friends, 7.2% of US visitors, staying 11.9¹ nights against 8.7 for vacationers. Their months are December and January.

They also go where vacationers do not: Calabria 25 times more often than US vacationers, Abruzzo 20 times more. In January part of the south runs on family visits rather than tourism, and the Calabria roots trip page is written for that traveler.

What isn't settled for January 2027

No 2027 January event is in our verified set beyond the Bolzano market's closing day, and museum winter hours vary from site to site. Check each museum's own page for your week rather than a seasonal summary.

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